Blacking-machine



F. M FURBER.

I BLACKING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED DEC 12. I917.

1,375,839 Paaemeci Apr. 26, 1921;.

SHEETS-SHEET I F. M. FURBER,

BLACKING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED DEC. 12. 191

Patented Apr. 26, 1921;.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

F. M-LFURBER. BLACKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED DEC.12. I917.

Patented Apr. 26, 1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

UNITED STTitS PTENT OFF-5565 FREDERICK M. RUBBER, O1 REVERE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CORPORATION, 035 PATEESON,

NEW JERSEY.

NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF BLACKTNG-E IACHINE.

newness.

Application filed December 12, 1917. serial No. 206,776.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK M. Funnnn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Revere, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in Blacking-Machines, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to machines for applying finishing material such as stains, blacking and the like, hereinafter generically termed blacking, to the edges of the heels or soles of boots and shoes. The invention is herein illustrated as embodied in a machine of the type employinga rand crease guide and a brush arranged to rotate longitudinally of the work.

Heretofore blacking machines of this type have not been constructed and arranged to provide for adaptation of the single rotary brush to conform to the wide variations in the shapes of heels encountered. in the ordinary operation of the machine. It has accordingly been necessary to provide interchangeable brushes of a great variety of different cross sections corresponding. approximately to .the respective cross sections of the heels to be blacked. This necessitated keeping a considerable supply of different brushes and involved the loss of time and labor incident to changing brushes frequently. 7

An object of the invention is to provide an improved blacking machine so constructed and arranged that a single brush may be used satisfactorily to treat heels of widely varying shapes and sizes. While the invention is shown in a blacking machine of the type in which a single brush rotates longi tudinally of the work, the invention is not limited to application in machines of this type.

Important features of the invention consist in a novel construction and arrangement providing for relative alteration of the positions of the rotary brush and of another part of the machine, such as the rand crease guide, so as to adapt the machine for operation upon varying kinds of work.

Most blacking machines are provided with some sort of an arrangement which serves the double purpose of guarding the upper and providing a guide which is adapted to enter the rand crease of the shoe. One common form of such an arrangement consists of a rotary disk whose periphery isadapted to enter the rand crease. Such adisk may be made to serve also the purpose of applying blacking to the upper'edge of the sole if blacking is supplied to one face of the disk. In some types of shoes, the rand crease is very narrow and it has been found difficult to force the periphery of the diskinto the crease sufficiently far to obtain the proper application of blacking to the upper surface of the sole or heel. There is the additional difficulty that a very narrow crease tends to wipe the blacking off the disk before the disk is sufficiently far into the crease to apply the blaclring to the upper surface of the sole. In this connection it has been suggested that the edge of the disk should be provided with blacking receiving pockets. It has been found, however, that while such a disk has many advantages, it is not wholly satisfactory for the reason that it wears away rapidly, and especially rapidly when the rand crease is narrow as in the case under consideration.

It is another object of the invention to provide an arrangement which will insure the thorough application of blacking to the rand crease and to this end to provide a device which will positively open the rand crease and force the blacking into all parts thereof, however narrow the rand crease.

The tendency of soft bristle brushes to become matted has been explained at some length in Letters Patent of the United States No. 1,195,348, granted August '22,

1916, upon an application of F. M. Furber.

The arrangement there shown successfully overcomes this tendency but, nevertheless, is open to the objection that the peripheral speeds of the blacking applying brush and the comb for straightening the bristles are so related that the comb co-acts with constantly recurring portions of the brush and that there is a tendency for the bristles to be formed into regular bunches or tufts.

Another feature of the invention consists in the provision of means for preventing this result by causing the comb to co-act with successively different portions of the brush as, for example, by causing the comb and the applying brush to be driven at prime rotary speeds.

Still another feature of the invention relates to the relative mounting of the rand crease guide, theblacking feed disk, the crease opening device, and the blacking ap plying brush whereby the rand crease disk may be kept properly positioned with respect to said devices.

Other features of the invention will be come apparent after a consideration of a specific embodiment thereof by reference to the following specification taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which,

Figure 1 is a plan view, with portions cut away, of the whole machine;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a portion of the brush driving mechanism;

Fig. 3 is a side view of the brush carrying frame showing the associated parts;

Fig. 4 is a side view of the rand crease guide and the associated mechanism;

Figs. 5 and 6 are views of a modified construction of the mechanism for opening the rand crease and insuring a thorough application of blacking thereto.

The illustrated embodiment of the machine is particularly adapted for the application ofblacking to the heels of boots or shoes.- For convenience, therefore, the work will hereinafter be termed the heel although it is obvious that the machine is equally Well adapted for use upon other parts of a boot or shoe. Similarly, the term rand crease is used generically to indi ate any part of the crease between the upper and the sole. The machine comprises a suitable frame in which is supported a main drive shaft 10 which is adapted to receive power from any suitable source as, for example, thro'ugh the belt 12 and pulley l. Driven from the shaft 10 through an intermediate shaft 16 and a suitable train of gears 18, is a rand crease guide 20 having a relatively thin edge adapted to enter the crease. This guide is in the form of a concave disk and when viewed from its concave side rotates in a counter-clockwise direc tion. Mounted below the guide 20 is a suitable blacking receptacle 22 which is adapted to supply blacking to one face of the disk by means of a rotating disk at which dips in the receptacle and touches the disk at a lower point of its periphery. This disk 24 may be driven in any suitable manner and is here shown as rotated by means of a chain 26 from one of the shafts interposed between the intermediate shaft 16 and the rand crease guide 20. If desired, a suitable scraper 28 may be mounted upon the receptacle 22 to remove surplus blacking fr 111 the disk 24 as it emerges from the receptacle.

Although in the majority of cases the rand crease disk 20 which has already been described, operates satisfactorily to apply blacking to the rand crease, there are certain cases where the rand crease is very narrow in which this mechanism is not wholly satisfactory. For the purpose of overcoming this difliculty there is provided in this machine a device co-acting with the rand crease disk for opening the rand crease of the shoe and pushing the blacking from the disk into said crease. One embodiment of such a device has been illustrated in Figs. 1 and f and will be seen to comprise a separate device located adjacent to one face of the disk 20 and which may be termed a crease opening tool 30. shown in Fig/l and is supported upon the shaft 16 and a projection on the end of the shaft 17, and is retained on the latter by a suitable washer. Theend of this tool is wedge shaped to co-act with the narrow periphery of the disk 20 and the tool is arranged for reciprocation by the provision of two rollers 32 attached to its opposite end and co-acting with a wave cam 34: mounted upon the intermediate shaft 16. This cam is intended to be arranged so that the reciprocation of the tool 30 will be related to the rotation of the disk 20 so that the periphery of the disk will move forward a distance equal to the width of the working end of the tool 30 between the reciprocations of the tool. By reason of this provision for relative movement between the tool 30 and the disk 20 the tool is enabled to cause an accumulation of blacking at its upper edge at the point of engagement with the work as the disk travels beneath it and then to force this accumulation into the rand crease, thus assisting in the thorough application of blacking thereto. The work is supported for presentation to the machine by means of a roller 36 supported upon a stub shaft 38 adjustably mounted upon a bracket 40.

The application of blacking to the remainder of the surface of the heel may be suitably accomplished by means of a rotary brush 50 mounted upon a shaft 52 which is arranged for adjustment in a horizontal plane in order to adjust the position of the working face of the brush with relation to the machine and particularly to the rand crease guide 20. To this end, the shaft 52 is mounted in a framework supported by a plate 54 which in turn is supported upon a plate 56 and these plates are adjustably clamped to the frame of the machine by means of a bolt 58. This adjustment is fa cilitated by means of ribs 60 and 62 upon the plate 56 and the framework, respectively,

which enter oomplemental grooves and are arranged so that the adjustment is around a center designated as a in Fig. 1. One face of the brush 50 is, therefore, always immediately adjacent to the active portion of the periphery of the disk 20 and by rea- This tool is slotted as son of the provision of the two plates 54 and 56 the brush is mounted for universal adjustment in a horizontal plane. This shaft 52 will be driven'at a speed, which conveniently may be about one tenth of the speed of the disk 20, by connection to a vertical auxiliary shaft 64 by means of suitable gears 66 and 68. This shaft 64 will in turn be connected to a flexible drive shaft 74 by means of spiral gears 70 and 72 and the flexible shaft 7 4 will receive power from the main shaft by means of a suitable connection thereto. In order to avoid cramping the flexible shaft 74, the head 76, in which the end of this shaft and the gear 72 are supported, is mounted for adjustment about the vertical shaft 64 by means of the arrangement shown in Fig. 2 and is held in position by means of a pin 7 8 which may enter any one of a plurality of suitable sockets 79 in a portion of the cover over the surrounding parts. Blacking may be supplied to the brush by means of a rotatable disk 80 supported in a depending portion of the framework which is, supported by the plate 54. This disk 80 may be driven by a geared connection to the vertical shaft 64 and surplus blacking removed therefrom by a suitable scraper 82 shown in Fig. 3. It will thus be seen that adjustment of the position of the brush results in moving with it the blacking supply disk so that these parts are always in suitable co-acting' relation. The blacking disk 80 clips in the same receptacle 22 which has been utilized for supplying blacking to the disk 20.

In order to prevent the matting of the bristles of the brush 50, as clearly explained in Furber Patent No. 1,195,348, a straightening device comprising comb teeth 84 mounted in circumferentially separated series upon a shaft 86 supported in the same frame with the brush 50 and the disk 80, has been provided. This shaft 86 is connected with the vertical shaft 64 by means of spiral gears 88 and 90. With the manner of driving this bristle straightening device which has been previously utilized, there was a tendency for the comb to repeatedly coact with the same portions of the brush with the result that the bristles were formed into regular bunches or tufts. As one means of overcoming this difficulty, the rotary speeds of the comb 84 and the brush 50 have been made prime to one another. For example, the gear 88 may be given one more tooth than the gear 90 so that the ratio of the gears 88 and 90 will cause the comb to co-act with different portions of the periphery of the brush, there being a gradual cir- 'cumferential shifting of the effect of the teeth upon said brush in successive actions about it. The areas over which the teeth enter the bristles therefore overlap, so that the action is distributed and made uniform,

instead of producing alternate projections and depressions, as is the case whenthe rotary speeds of the brush and comb are in a simple ratio. The direction of rotation of the comb is clockwise when viewed from the end shown in Fig. 3 and the teeth 84 are preferably curved forwardly in the direction of rotation.

In order to secure the best results from the machine, especially to permit the thickness of the'coating of blacking carried by the rand crease guide disk 20 to be controlled, itis necessary that said guide disk be so constructed and arranged that there may be provision for adjustment of the guide disk 20 relative to the blacking supply disk 24 and the brush 50. To this end, the shaft 17, upon which the disk is mounted, has been provided with elongated teeth 21 to allow its adjustmentl with respect to the meshing. gear of the train 18, and it is held in adjustable position. in the frame of the machine by means of collars 23 which are screw-clamped to the shaft 17. Provision has thus been made for the convenient, easily accessible and accurate adjustmentof the guide disk 20 with relation to the blacking supply disk 24 and the brush 50.

In Figs. 5 and 6 there is shown a modified arrangement for opening the rand crease for supplying blacking thereto. In this arrangement the rand crease guide disk 20 is mounted upon a shaft 119 which is adjustably retained in place by means of collars 123. This shaft 119 is made hollow and carries concentrically therewith a shaft 96 upon which is mounted a concave disk 92 nesting within the disk20 and provided withprojections 94. These projections 94 upon the disk 92 are adapted to overlie the flat peripheral flange usually provided upon v the disk 20 and are wedge-shaped so as to enter the randcrease of the shoe. A suitable means such as the chain 98 is provided to drive the shaft 96 in the same direction as the shaft 119 but at a greater speed than this shaft so that the disk 92 rotates'faster than the disk 20. By means of this arrangement, an accumulation of Lblacking will be caused at the point of engagement between the randcreasedisk ,andthe shoe at the same time the rotation of the wedge-shaped projections 94 through the crease of "the shoe will tend, to open the same to allow the application of the blacking thereto. The disk 124 dipping in the receptacle 22 and provided with a'scraper 128 supplies blacking to the concave face of'the disks 20 and 92. It will be seen that thus there has been provided a separate device adjacent to one face .of the rand crease disk and with provision for relative movement between these-devices such that the separate device will cause the accumulation of blacking adjacent to the oint of engagement of the device with the Work and will also open the rand crease and work the accumulation into it. The brush which has'been illustrated in this figure is shaped to correspond with a particular style of work .and has associated with it a complementally shaped blacking supplying disk 180. I

In the operation of the machine, the head 53, carrying the brush 50 and its comb and blacking supplying disk, will be clamped in the adjusted position indicated for the particular style of work, by loosening the bolt 58 and then tightening it. The work will then be presented to the machine in the customary fashion by first placing the shoe in the position shown in Fig. 3 and then turning it as indicated in Fig. 4: so as to apply blacking to all parts of the heel. The rand crease will be opened and thoroughly blacked by means of the rand crease guide and its associated opening and blacking applying tool which, 'in the form shown in Figs. 1 and 4, is reciprocated relatively to the guide 20 and the blacking will be applied to the face of the heel by means of the rotary brush 50, from which the upper of the shoe is shielded by the interposed guide 20. This brush is prevented from either being matted or being formed into tufts by virtue of the peculiar arrangement of the straightening comb 84:.

Having now described one particular embodiment of my invention, whatI claim is,

1. In a blacking machine, a rand crease guide, a rotary brush, means for supplying blacking. to one of said members, and means for supporting one of said members constructediand arranged to allow relative angular adjustment of the work engaging portions of said members.

2. In a blacking machine, a rand crease guide, a rotary brush, means for supplying blacking to said brush, the work-engaging portion of the face of said brush and the work-engaging portion of the rand crease guide being adjustable in their angular relation.

3, A blacking machine comprising a rotatable rand crease guide, a driven rotary brush, said brush being rotatable about an axis located in a plane parallel to the axis of the rand crease guide, said machine being constructed and arranged to permit relative angular adjustment of the axis of said brush and the axis of said guide, and means for supplying blacking to said brush. v

4. In ,a blacking machine, a rotatable rand crease guide and a rotatable brush disposed. upon horizontal axes angularly related to one another and arranged so that the peripheries' of the guide and brush substantially coincide at one point, and means for supplying blacking to said brush.

5. In a blacking machine, a rand crease guide, a rotary brush, means for supplying tecting means being constructed and arranged for relative angular adjustment.

7. In a blacking machine, a rand crease guide, a rotary brush ad acent thereto, said guide and brush being constructed and arranged for universal adjustment of the direction of the axis of rotation of said brush with respect to said guide in a single plane, and means for supplying blacking to said brush in any of its adjusted positions.

8. In a blacking machine, a rand crease guide, a rotary brush, means for supplying blacking to said brush, and adjustable means for supporting said brush and its blacking supplying means whereby the relation of the" guide and the brush maybe altered without varying the relation of the brush and the blacking supplying means.

9. In a blaclring machine, a rand crease guide, a rotary blacking applying brush adjacent thereto, means for supplying blacking to said brush, driven means for straightening out the bristles of the applying brush, and means for supporting said brush and said blacking supplying and straightening means in fixed relation with one another and adjustable relation tosaid guide.

10. In ablacking machine, a drive shaft, a rotatable rand crease guide arranged to be driven therefrom, a rotary blacking applying brush mounted adjacent to said guide and angularly adjustable with respect thereto, and means connecting said drive shaft and said brush for driving the latter in any of its adjusted positions.

11. In a blacking applying machine, a rotary blacking applying brush, rotary means having circumferentially separated members cooperatingwith said brush for straightening out its bristles, and means for driving said brush and said straightening means at speeds which are prime to one another.

12. In a blacking machine, a driven blacking applying brush, and driven means having separated members for intermittently engaging the bristles of the brush to straighten them out, and means for driving said brush and said straightening means at such relative rotary speeds that the straightening means Wlll co-act with successively different portions of the brush 1 gradually shifting relatively during differ-- ent circumferential actions.

13. In a blacking machine, a rotary blacking applying brush, a comb rotatably mounted and having circumferentially separated teeth in peripheral engagement with the applying brush and arranged to be rotated in an opposite direction to said brush with relatively prime rotary speeds in order to straighten out the bristles of the brush.

14;. In a blacking machine, the combination of a rotatable blacking applying brush, a rotatable comb having circumferentially separated teeth arranged to engage and straighten out the bristles of the applying brush, and intermeshing driving means for said devices constructed and arranged to cause the teeth of the comb 'to engage the brush at progressively advancing points, which points, as to successive circumferential actions about the brush, vary in their angular relation. v

15. In a blacking machine, a rotary blacking applying brush, means for supplying blacking to said brush, a rotary comb hav ing a plurality of series of circumferentially separated teeth curved forwardly and in the direction of its rotation and arranged to project into the body of said brush, and means for rotating said comb in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation of said brush and with a rotary speed which is prime with relation to the rotary speed of the brush.

16. In a blacking machine, rigid guiding means adapted to be associated with the rand crease of a shoe, a rotary brush arranged to apply blacking to the shoe, said brush and said guiding means being constructed and arranged for relative angular adjustment, rotary means cooperating with said brush for straightening out its bristles, and means for driving said brush and said straightening means at peripheral speeds which are prime to one another.

17. In a machine of the class described, a relatively thin device for applying blacking to the rand crease of a shoe, means for supplying blacking to said device, and separate means located adjacent to one face of said device, provision being made for relative movement between said separate means and device, said separate means being arranged to cause an accumulation of blacking adjacent to the point of engagement of said device with the work.

18. In a blacking machine, movable means for applying blacking to the rand crease of a shoe, means for supplying blacking thereto, and means movable relatively to said applying means arranged to open the rand crease to assist in the application of blacking thereto.

19. In a machine of the class described, rotatable means, provided with a relatively thin work-engaging peripheral portion, for applying blacking to the rand crease of a shoe, means for supplying blacking to the peripheral portion of said means, and movable means, provided with'a tapered workengaging portion, arranged to spread open said rand crease in order to assist in the application of blacking thereto.

20. In a blacking machine, a rotatable disk, means for supplying blacking to one face of said vdisk, and driven means movable across the face of said disk for pushing the blacking into the rand crease.

21. In a blacking machine, a rotatable disk, a reciprocable member mounted'adjacent to one face of said disk and provided with a tapered end portion, means for supplying blacking to said face of the disk, and'means for reciprocating said member to push the blacking from the disk into the rand crease and simultaneously to open the rand crease.

22. In a blacking machine, movable means for applying blacking to the rand crease of a shoe, a rotary brush arranged to apply blacking to adjacent portions of the shoe, said machine being constructed and arranged to permit relative angular adjustment of the axis of said brush with respect to said first-named applying means, means for supplying blacking to one of said members, andmeans movable relatively to said applying means arranged to open the rand crease to assist in the application of blacking thereto.

23. In a blacking machine, rotary means for applying blacking to the rand crease of a shoe, means for supplying blacking thereto, means movable relatively to said applying means arranged to open the rand crease to assist in the application of blacking thereto, said machine being constructed and arranged to permit axial adjustment of said rotary applying means with respect to another part of said machine.

24. In a blacking machine, movable means for applying blacking to the rand crease of a shoe, means movable relatively to said applying means arranged to open the rand crease to assist in the application of blacking thereto, a rotary brush arranged to apply blacking to adjacent portions of the shoe, means for supplying blacking to one of said applying members, and movable means engaging said brush to straighten out its bristles.

25. In a blacking machine, rotary means for applying blacking to the rand crease of a shoe, a rotary brush for applying blacking to another portion of the shoe, means for supplying blacking to one of said members, said machine being constructed and arranged to allow relative angular adjustment of the axes of said members, means movable relatively to said first-named applying means arranged to open the rand crease to assist in the application of blacking thereto, and means engaging said brush to straighten out its bristles.

26. In a blacking machine, a rotary rand crease guide, means for supplying blacking thereto, means movable relatively to said guide arranged to open the rand crease, a rotary brush for applying blacking to another portion of the shoe, means for supporting said brush constructed and arranged to allow relative angular adjustment of the axes of said guide and brush, a rotary comb engaging said brush to straighten out its bristles, means for driving said brush and said comb at peripheral speeds which are rime to one another, and means for supplying blacking to said brush.

27. In a blacking machine, a rand crease guide member, a movable member co-acting with said guide to open the rand crease of a shoe, a rotary brush member for applying blacking to the heel of the shoe, and means for supplying blacking to one of said members.

28. In a blacking machine, a rotatable disk arranged to apply blacking to the rand crease of a shoe, means movable relatively to said disk constructed and arranged to open the rand crease to assist in the application of blaoking thereto, a rotary brush arranged to apply blacking to the portion of the shoe adjacent to the rand crease, and means for supplying blacln'ng to one of said members.

29. In a blacking machine, movable means for applying blacking to the rand crease of a shoe, means for supplying blacking thereto, and means movable relatively to said applying means to assist in the application of blacking to the rand crease.

30. In a blaeking machine, a rotatable disk for applying blacking to a rand crease, means for supplying blacking to said disk, and means cooperating with the disk for forcing the blacking into the rand crease.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this s cification.

FR DERICK M. FURBER. 

